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  • Quantising - any tips please???

    A
    A

    Are there any tips about quantising synchron strings? I have a problem that I play the things let us say spiccato Violini 1 notes and then I want to quantise it. When I do it I am getting unexpected very bad results. How to deal with quantising strings correctly? Even when you quantise to 8 notes, the notes are played wrongly that you can feel that smething is not right
  • F
    F

     

    To be very honest, the ultimate tip is avoid quantization, at all. Quantization is the opposite of real musical performance, and it's not surprising that you aren't happy with it. Anyway:

    - it's hard to give you suggestion because it's really depending on the style and musical context: is it fast is it slow, is it rubato is it streight, is it classical/romantic or is t pop-rock? It will dictate the amount of quantization you may afford without getting trouble with the final effect.

    - the usual source of issues with quantization of a live MIDI recorded performance is accents and position: the DAW MIDI editors usually give you flexibility on the amount of non-destructive quantization, and checking the velocities/position/duration of the MIDI sequence generated by your performance will provide you with important informations about the accent you want preserve (e.g. are you missing subtle rythmic accents and syncopation after quantization? etc.)

    - if you are recording in real time controllers (e.g. CC2 and CC11 etc.) you may check if the controller track follows the notes after quantization: if the DAW moves postion of notes only, but doesn't affect the corresponding controllers track, then the expression of the notes will be inconsistent and will definitely produce different/unwanted effect etc.

    IMPORTANT: a general tip to get help here: post a midi/audio example of what you want and what you get instead, so people can understand your request and give precise suggestions.
  • M
    M
    In Cubase, there is a type of quantising called ‘Iterative’ which moves the notes towards the grid lines by a user-specified percentage. There are probably similar features in other DAWs. I usually set it to 50% and select just a few notes than sound a bit sloppy, carefully set the right grid quantise value (i.e. quarter notes, 8th notes) and quantise with Iterative Quantise. Then listen back to hear if it has improved things. Obviously be very careful if there are any triplets or duplets as these will need to be handled with a different grid setting. Also watch out for notes that get knocked in the wrong direction, which happens if they are closer to the next gridline to the right (or left) than intended. Sometimes it may be worth just re-recording the problem section rather than try to massage a sloppy or slightly off recording. I hope that helps.